Are you in control of your Microsoft Data Platform?
Data platform is the motor of your business applications. If you don't put enough focus into it, you risk losing revenue and customers due to slow or poorly performing services, or at worst, downtime. Gain clear competitive edge by making sure your services run smoothly!
Free online assessment
Use our online assessment by answering the following questions, to find out where you have the most important areas of development in your Microsoft data platform.
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We recommend that you prioritize these areas of improvement in your data platform.
- SQL Servers play often a key role in the business-critical IT systems. They have a great impact on the services' performance and availability. Lack of proper visibility into the SQL estate can lead to serious risks. Would you like to know how to achieve a better grip on what’s going on in your SQL Server platform?
- It seems you know the condition of your SQL Servers very well. That's great! It's still good to remember that the situation can develop, and it's common that you eventually face even surprising changes or challenges in the system. It is recommended to review your toolkit every now and then to see, if it's up-to-date or if you would benefit from upgrading it. It can also be eye-opening to have a database expert from outside your organization to bounce ideas with.
- It seems you know the condition of your data platform fairly well, but there could be some room for improvements. You can benefit from utilizing modern tools and/or a skilled database expert to help you gain more visibility and optimize your data platform with an eye on the future.
- It would be very important to know what is the current condition of your data platform. When was the last time you conducted a health check? If it was over a year ago (or never!), we highly recommend to start with that. A proper health check will help you find root causes for the problems and thus fix them. Conducting a health check is a straight forward project that will not eat much of your time or budget. The risks of not knowing the condition of the platform, on the other hand, can come out very costly.
- It would be very important to know what is the current condition of your data platform. When was the last time you conducted a health check? If it was over a year ago (or never!), we highly recommend to start with that. A proper health check will help you find root causes for the problems and thus fix them. Conducting a health check is a straight forward project that will not eat much of your time or budget. The risks of not knowing the condition of the platform, on the other hand, can come out very costly.
- A growing platform is typically a result of growing business. We hope this is the case in your situation too, since you have a growing platform, and congratulate you on that! However there are often significant risks related to the fast growth of the data platform, such as challenges in scalability, capacity, and performance. We recommend conducting an architectural assessment in addition to performance health check. They help you understand the actual current situation and to prepare an optimal, fact-based plan to support the growth.
- We suspect you don't necessarily have a clear picture regarding the future life cycle of your data platform. Especially in situations where the data platform is growing, for example due to a growing business, it is important to understand the future needs. Do you know how to gain better understanding on the status of your platform—is there growth and at what pace? There are often significant risks related to the fast growth of the data platform, such as challenges in scalability, capacity, and performance. We recommend conducting an architectural assessment in addition to performance health check. They help you understand the actual current situation and to prepare an optimal, fact-based plan to support the possible growth.
- Since you have had issues with the performance, we recommend conducting diagnostics to find out the root causes for the problems, in order to fix them. Conducting the performance diagnostics is a straight-forward task that doesn't require much of your time.
- It is great that the performance output of your platform is currently good! It is not uncommon, though, that the situation changes over time, so keep a close eye on the condition of your platform. If you start noticing any problems, we recommend carrying out performance diagnostics.
- It is a risk not to know if there are performance issues or not. Not knowing the health status can significantly increase the risk for problems in the data platform that can reflect to business as service breaks or slowness. When was the last time you conducted diagnostics or health check? We recommend to do this at least once a year. It will help in finding the root causes for problems, which is crucial in order to fix them. Conducting this kind of project will not require much of your time.
- We would like to emphasize the importance of the database layer, when transferring your IT infrastructure to cloud. Have you put enough focus on this area and do you know what is the most optimal way to transfer the data platform? If not, it would be a good idea to start with assessing the current architecture and conducting a health check.
- Even if you are not planning to transfer to cloud yet, it is good to be aware of what to take into consideration when the time is right. In case your situation changes and you start to plan transferring your IT infrastructure to cloud, we would like to remind about the importance of the database layer. In the case you start to plan the cloud transfer, it is a good idea to start with assessing the current architecture and conducting a health check.
- It is getting more and more common for organizations to start transforming to cloud, partially or overall. We recommend you start also forming some kind of strategy regarding the possibilities of cloud transfer in your organization. When your situation clarifies and if you start to plan transferring your IT infrastructure to cloud, we would like to remind about the importance of the database layer. When you start to plan the cloud transfer, it is a good idea to start with assessing the current architecture and conducting a health check.
- Since you have needs to modernize your SQL Server platform, we recommend making an inventory and health check on your current platform as the starting point. It is important to understand e.g. the software versions and software licensing conditions in addition to the server hardware before planning what and how to modernize.
- It seems you don't currently have needs to modernize your data platform. It is good to assess the situation every now and then, as it is very common for the data platform to evolve in time and thus in the future face the needs for upgrades.
- There are plenty of risks you can face, if you are running your databases on an outdated platform. For example, having unsupported server software or hardware can cause huge performance issues, security and compliance risks, in addition to liability problems. Thus it would be highly recommended to carry out an inventory and health check on the current platform, to find out what is the actual situation and condition.
- As you are seeking for possibilities to cut your IT infra costs, the good news is that there often are significant opportunities to save in your data platform. By consolidating or right-sizing your SQL Servers in a smart and automated way, you have a possibility to gain even 50 % cost savings from licensing and other SQL Server costs.
- While you don't seem to be having pressure to find ways for saving in IT infrastructure costs, there often are significant opportunities to save in your data platform. By consolidating or right-sizing your SQL Servers in a smart and automated way, you have a possibility to gain even 50 % cost savings from licensing and other SQL Server costs.
- While gaining cost savings might not be a top priority currently, it is still good to review the possibilities to rationalize your IT infrastructure every now and then. You could have the potential to save up to 50% in the SQL Server costs, for example.
- It is a risk not to have enough resources for taking care of your data platform. You can benefit from utilizing software products that increase efficiency through automation. You should also consider if having a partner with skilled database experts would give you more flexibility compared to hiring a new team member.
- It is great that you have enough resources in your team! It might still be a good idea to review if you would benefit from utilizing modern software products that automate routine tasks, make monitoring more efficient and proactive, and help you optimize the data platform.
- For the SQL Server platform to run smoothly, you need enough resources for looking after it. Lack of attention can lead into critical problems in performance and usability. Even a small investment to modern tools or a skilled database expert could improve your situation significantly.
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In case you wish to have a talk with us on these matters, please don't hesitate to contact us!